Monday, October 30, 2023 

12:00 – 2:00 p.m. Delta Summit Registration | Ballroom pre-function 

2:00 – 2:15 p.m. Welcome | Ballroom

Dr. Corey Wiggins, Federal Co-Chair, Delta Regional Authority

Governor Pritzker, State of Illinois, Delta Regional Authority States’ Co-Chair

2:15 – 3:15 p.m. Plenary | Cultivating Growth: Addressing Challenges and Nurturing 

Opportunities 

Moderator: Deidre Deculus Robert, State Director, Louisiana USDA Rural 

Development

Dr. Corey Wiggins, Federal Co-Chair, Delta Regional Authority

3:15 – 3:30 p.m. Break

3:30 – 4:45 p.m. Plenary | Building Bridges to Progress: Empowering Communities 

Through Infrastructure, Workforce, Entrepreneurship and Creative 

Placemaking 

Moderator: Shad Burner, Principal, KBS Group

Felecia Lucky, Executive Director, Black Belt Community Foundation

Dr. Cindy Kelley, President, Madisonville Community College, Madisonville, 

Kentucky

Dwight Norton, Senior Director of Strategic Planning, New Orleans Regional 

Transportation Authority

Kathy Saloy, Senivor Vice President of Community and Economic Development, 

HOPE Enterprise Corporation

Ernest Strickland, President, Black Business Association of Memphis 

4:45 – 6:00 p.m. Opening Reception | Ballroom pre-function 
Tuesday, October 31, 2023 

7:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Delta Summit Registration | Ballroom pre-function

8:00 – 9:00 a.m. Networking Breakfast | Ballroom pre-function

9:00 – 10:00 a.m. Plenary | Beyond Limits: Unleashing Community Power and Prosperity 

Moderator: Brooxie Carlton, Assistant Commissioner of Community and Rural 

Development, Tennessee Department of Economic and Community 

Development 

Brandi Bradley, Director of Government Relations, Ullico 

Marshall Pierite, Chairman, Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana

Michael Stubblefield, Vice Chancellor, Research & Strategic Initiatives, Southern 

University and A&M College, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 

 Rhea Williams-Bishop, Director of Mississippi and New Orleans Programming, 

 Kellogg Foundation

 

10:00 – 10:15 a.m. Break

10:15 – 11:15 a.m. Concurrent Sessions

 

Navigating Delta 

Regional Authority’s 

Human Infrastructure 

Programs: Delta 

Workforce Program & 

Delta Leadership 

Institute

Cheyton Pendley, Workforce Program Analyst, Delta 

Regional Authority

L. Nicole Stringfellow, Leadership Development Program 

Manager, Delta Regional Authority

St. Jerome

Community Planning: 

Beyond Today’s 

Potholes and Pitfalls 

Thomas Gregory, Executive Director, Mississippi Main 

Street Association

Alexander Lawson, Jr., Chairman, Jackson Redevelopment 

Authority

St. 

Claude/Rosalie

Philanthropy: Their Role 

in Economic Resilience 

and Revitalization

Sanci Richardson, Consultant, The BRIDGE Consulting 

Group

Abe Hudson, Program Officer, Home Region Program, 

Walton Family Foundation 

Sherra Bennett, Equity Officer, Winthrop Rockefeller 

Foundation

Jamie Schmill, VP of Programs, Foundation for Louisiana

Maurepas

Shaping Tomorrow’s 

Workforce: Paving the 

Path Forward

Vickey Bonney, Community Development Lead Specialist, 

Missouri Department of Higher Education & Workforce 

Development

Frontenac
Tamika Green, Community Development Senior Specialist, 

Missouri Department of Higher Education & Workforce 

Development

Office Hours: Alison Lorence, Federal Disaster Recovery Officer, Federal 

Emergency Management Agency 

Karen Stafford, Deputy Federal Disaster Recovery Officer, 

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Orleans

PreRegistration 

Required

11:15 – 11:30 a.m. Break

11:30am – 12:30 p.m. Concurrent Sessions

Navigating Delta 

Regional Authority’s 

Delta Doctors Program

Christina Wooden, Health Programs Manager, Delta 

Regional Authority

Barry Walker, Principal, Walker Immigration Law Firm

St. Jerome

Breathing New Life into 

Neighborhoods through 

Community 

Revitalization

Ryan Biles, Director of Development, Thrive

Belinda Stewart, Principal, Belinda Stewart Architects 

St. 

Claude/Rosalie

Brownfields: Economic 

Gems in the Making 

Adam Tatar, Brownfield Program Coordinator, New Orleans 

Regional Planning Commission 

Michael Kennedy, Brownfields Project Officer & Regional 

Smart Growth Coordinator, U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency

Maurepas

Navigating Delta 

Regional Authority’s 

Critical Infrastructure 

Programs & States’ 

Economic Development 

Assistance Program

Darci Malam, States’ Economic Development Assistance 

Programs Manager, Delta Regional Authority

Daniel Musgrave, States’ Economic Development Assistance 

Programs Analyst, Delta Regional Authority

Frontenac

Office Hours: Russ Garner, Community Facilitator, Communities 

Unlimited 

Courtney Paige, Louisiana Infrastructure Technical 

Assistance Corporation (LITA Corp)

Orleans 

PreRegistration 

Required

12:30 – 1:30 p.m. Lunch | Ballroom pre-function

1:45 – 2:45 p.m. Concurrent Sessions

This Little Light of Ours: 

Producing the 

Mississippi Delta Civil 

Rights Heritage Tourism 

Summit

Rolando Herts, Ph.D., Director, The Delta Center for Culture 

and Learning, Executive Director, Mississippi Delta 

National Heritage Area

Keena Graham, Superintendent, Medgar and Myrlie Evers 

Home National Monument

St. Jerome
Malika Polk-Lee, Executive Director, BB King Museum and 

Delta Interpretive Center 

John Spann, Program & Outreach Officer, Mississippi 

Humanities Council

Energizing Communities 

through the Power of 

Clean Energy 

Toniqua Hay, Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations 

Stakeholder Engagement Lead, Energy Improvement in 

Rural or Remote Areas, U.S. Department of Energy

Lacy McManus, Executive Director of Future Energy, GNO, 

Inc.

St. 

Claude/Rosalie

Navigating Delta 

Regional Authority’s 

Capacity Building 

Programs: Strategic 

Planning Program & 

Local Development 

District Community 

Support Pilot Program 

Matthew Campbell, Strategic Partnerships, Program 

Manager

Maurepas

Small Business Synergy: 

Igniting Entrepreneurial 

Growth 

Michael Ricks, District Director, Louisiana Small Business 

Association 

Veranesha Thompson, Executive Director, Capital Access, 

Funds 17 

Bryan Greenwood, State Director, Louisiana Small Business 

Development Center 

Frontenac

Office Hours: State 

Economic Development 

Offices | Alabama | 

Arkansas 

Crystal Talley, Alabama Department of Economic and 

Community Affairs

Amy Williams, Arkansas Economic Development 

Commission

Orleans

PreRegistration 

Required

 

2:45 – 3:15 p.m. Networking Break

3:15 – 4:15 p.m. Concurrent Sessions

 

Navigating Delta 

Regional Authority’s 

Health Programs: Delta 

Region Rural Hospital

Workforce Training 

Program & Delta Region 

Community Health 

Systems Development 

Program

Christina Wooden, Health Programs Manager, Delta 

Regional Authority

Alyssa Meller, Chief Operating Officer, National Rural 

Health Resource Center, Health Resources & Services 

Administration 

Suzanne Snyder, Public Health Analyst, Hospital State 

Division, Health Resources and Services Administration, US 

Department of Health and Human Services

St. Jerome

Accelerating Community 

Potential through 

Transportation 

Alex Clegg, Rural Transportation Specialist, Office of the 

Under Secretary for Transportation Policy, U.S. Department 

of Transportation 

Greg Richardson, Columbia Port Commission, RAISE Award

Recipient 

St. 

Claude/Rosalie
Ray Fulmer, Chairman, Osceola Port Authority, THRIVE 

Communities Recipient

Applying for DRA 

Grants: The How, What, 

and When

Moderator: Staresha Hoskins, Grants Manager, Delta 

Regional Authority

Jasmine Bell, ENNCloud

Glen Johnson, Founder, ENNCloud 

Maurepas

Disaster Recovery: 

Beyond the Storm 

Alison Lorence, Federal Disaster Recovery Officer, Federal 

Emergency Management Agency

Karen Stafford, Deputy Federal Disaster Recovery Officer, 

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Warren Miller, Senior Advisor, Office of Disaster Recovery 

& Resilience, Small Business Administration

Frontenac

Office Hours: State 

Economic Development 

Offices | Louisiana | 

Mississippi 

Tim Climer, Manager of Programs & Services, Mississippi 

Development Authority

Stacey Duvic, Senior Director, Community Competitiveness, 

Louisiana Economic Development

Pat Witty, LED Small Business and Community Services, 

Louisiana Economic Development

Orleans

PreRegistration 

Required

Wednesday, November 1, 2023

8:00 – 9:00 a.m. Breakfast | Ballroom pre-function

9:00 – 10:00 a.m. Plenary | Economic Development in the Delta Region 

Moderator: Lee Jones, Executive Director, Rural Partners Network, Office of the 

Under Secretary, Rural Development, United States Department of Agriculture

Ted James, Small Business Administration, Louisiana 

Tamika Jenkins, Executive Director, Hinds County Economic Development 

 Authority

Ileana Ledet, Economic Development Representative, Austin Regional Office, 

 Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce

Clint O’Neal, Executive Director, Arkansas Economic Development Commission

10:00 – 10:15 a.m. Break 

10:15 – 11:15 a.m. Concurrent Sessions 

Innovative Readiness 

Training: Hosting a 

Successful Mission

Christina Wooden, Health Programs Manager, Delta 

Regional Authority

Joel Evans, President & CEO, Delta Area Economic 

Opportunity Corporation

Andrew Adamich, Lt. Col, USAF, BSC, United States Air 

National Guard Innovative Readiness Training Program 

Manager

Frontenac
USDA Rural Director 

panel: 

Arkansas |Illinois | 

Kentucky

Jill Floyd, State Director, Arkansas USDA Rural 

Development

Thomas Carew, State Director, Kentucky USDA Rural 

Development

Betsy Dirksen Londrigan, State Director, Illinois USDA 

Rural Development

St. 

Claude/Rosalie

USDA Rural Director 

panel: Alabama | 

Louisiana | Mississippi | 

Tennessee

Nivory Gordon, Jr., State Director, Alabama USDA Rural 

Development

Deidre Deculus Robert, State Director, Louisiana USDA 

Rural Development

Dr. Trina N. George, State Director, Mississippi USDA Rural 

Development

Arlisa Armstrong, State Director, Tennessee USDA Rural 

Development

Maurepas

11:15 – 11:30 p.m. Break 

11:30am – 12:15 p.m. Closing Plenary | Impact of Equitable Infrastructure Investments 

Mitch Landrieu, Senior Advisor to U.S. President (Invited) 

12:15 – 12:30 p.m. Closing & Adjournment

The agenda is subject to change based on speaker availability and other factors that would contribute to 

essential adjustments but represents the general nature of topics to be discussed at this event.